Lovers of globally-inspired world music and jazz are in for a special night at Warwick Arts Centre on June 8th, when two of the region’s best bands join forces. Sonrisa brings its joyous blend of mainly Latin rhythms while Interplay casts its net a little wider, taking in African and Indian sounds as well as expressive modern jazz. Despite their musical common ground this will be the first time the two bands have appeared together. Interplay and Sonrisa are both well established across the Midlands, playing to concert and festival audiences, in clubs and on rural touring circuits for several years. Each band released an album last year too. ‘Global’, on the part of Interplay, was hailed by Gilles Peterson as a ‘beautiful record’, while Sonrisa’s ‘Taste Of Latin’ has resulted in the band being taken up by Tom Robinson for BBC Introducing on 6Music. The gig is presented on the ‘Under The Radar’ strand, through which the Arts Centre gives exposure to artists thought deserving of a wider audience. The evening promises an uplifting musical journey infused with different cultures, with rhythmic excitement and instrumental creativity to the fore. Details and booking link here...

Can’t make it to Osaka for International Jazz Day? Don’t despair – IJD is also coming to Leamington Spa! Interplay Duo will be on hand at Wagamama on Wednesday evening with a special programme of jazz from around the world. Pianist Neil Hunter and bassist Adrian Litvinoff draw on a huge repertoire to ensure the evening has a genuinely global flavour. Get the details here. Meanwhile click ‘read more’ to see Herbie Hancock’s inspirational message on video, our very own UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for Jazz!...

We are off to Market Harborough Jazz Club this Sunday for a lunch-time gig. Word has it the crowd there are a bit ‘serious’, but that’s not how I remember our last visit. I think we played plenty of Latin stuff and may even have equipped the audience with shakers and other things to hit! I do know that we sold more albums there than at any gig before or since. Roll on Sunday! Join us?...

I’ve been in to the Priory Place studio of BBC Coventry and Warwickshire today to talk about our Interplay Duo gig at Wilde’s tomorrow night. This will feature me and Richard Baker (trombone) exploring more of those gorgeous low frequency tonalities. The invitation came from Marian McNamee – just after I said that mainstream radio didn’t show much interest in the regional jazz scene! Marian presents the Sunday afternoon show from 1.00 – 3.00pm. This looks like being a good outlet for local music information from here on, and of course we will make sure that Marian has all the information she could need in future. If you’d like to hear the broadcast it runs from about 8.00 minutes in, duration 14 minutes approximately. You can also hear ‘Swift Return’ – enjoy!...

Two on-line jazz sites have just published positive reviews of the new album ‘Global’. ‘Jazz Views’ calls it ‘excellent’ and ‘a quite virile assay of post-bop modes’ while jazz reviewer Adrian Pallant finds it ‘joyful and contrasting’. Why not read the reviews in full and then let us know what you think of the album yourself?...

Gilles Peterson, the much-admired BBC 6Music presenter and long-standing aficionado of British contemporary jazz, has been in touch after listening to Interplay’s ‘Global’. In a brief email to Adrian Litvinoff he commented: ‘Beautiful record – thanks so much for sending!’ Just a few words, but the fact that he took the trouble to pass them on means a lot to us. After all, this is the man who put out two volumes of ground-breaking British jazz of the 1960s and 70s, under the title ‘Impressed’. Thanks very much...